2019 Birding Blog

May 16 - Benton Lake NWR Montana

We awoke very early in Great Falls, grabbed some breakfast items from the hotel buffet and were on our way. The Benton Lake National Wildlife Reserve was about 40 minutes from our location. I took my first photo at 6:24 AM, although I might not have adjusted the camera for Mountain time.

The photo was a beauty of a Marbled Godwit alongside the gravel road into the reserve.

Marbled Godwit - Benton Lake NWR, MT - 2019 Bird #141

If that wasn't good enough for a roadside bird, the next one was better. It was a Short-eared Owl.

Short-eared Owl - Benton Lake NWR, MT - 2019 Bird #142

It's often true that birding from the car is like being in a mobile bird blind. The birds are less inclined to notice the people and don't scatter if one is driving slowly enough. I had the opportunity to use the Nikon zoom to get a close up.

Short-eared Owl - Benton Lake NWR, MT

We'd seen American Avocet in other places on our tour, but this was the best photo opportunity, again from the car.

American Avocet - Benton Lake NWR, MT

Here's a zoom with the Nikon again.

American Avocet - Benton Lake NWR, MT

And one more for good measure.

A bird I had been expecting to see on the tour finally materialized on our last real day of birding, the dark headed Franklin's Gull.

Franklin's Gull - Benton Lake NWR, MT - 2019 Bird #143

Where there's one Gull, there are usually more.

Franklin's Gull - Benton Lake NWR, MT

This Nikon shot is not as clear as I'd like, but does show the interesting pattern around the eye.

This Meadowlark knew a safe place when it saw one.

Western Meadowlark - Benton Lake NWR, MT

Alongside the road was one of my hoped-for birds, a Chestnut-collared Longspur. It had been a few years since my last sighting of this attractive bird. According to Wikipedia, the name is based on "the long claw on the hind toe of each foot" which can't be seen in this photo.

Chestnut-collared Longspur - Benton Lake NWR, MT - 2019 Bird #144

We'd already had Grasshopper Sparrow in Idaho, a lifer for me. Chris spotted another one here.

Grasshopper Sparrow - Benton Lake NWR, MT

Another 2019 bird soon appeared in the lake, a group of Eared Grebes. I normally see these at Frank Lake, south of Calgary. This would be my only chance for this year.

Eared Grebe - Benton Lake NWR, MT - 2019 Bird #145

It had now been an hours since we'd seen the Short-eared Owl, and there were still other species to see. This was one of the most productive spots on our tour.

Redhead - Benton Lake NWR, MT - 2019 Bird #146

We'd seen Wilson's Phalarope on a flyby in Idaho. Here there was an opportunity for a close-up.

Wilson's Phalarope - Benton Lake NWR, MT

One of my favourite duck species is the Canvasback. In my opinion, both the male and female are quite elegant. Here's a pair together. The male is in the foreground.

Canvasback - Benton Lake NWR, MT - 2019 Bird #147

One last bird as we left Benton Lake, my first 2019 shot of a Marsh Wren.

Marsh Wren - Benton Lake NWR, MT - 2019 Bird #148

We now had a 6 to 7 hour drive to get to Grand Forks BC, where my sister Patty lives. We'd be staying there for the night. We did see some birds along the way, enough for a separate post.

May 16 - Southeast Washington and Grand Forks

After leaving Benton Lake, we drove north and west along Interstate 90 up to Grand Forks BC. We were staying there overnight at my sister Patty's place. We did see a few creatures and birds along the way, and a few more late in the evening in Grand Forks.

Yellow-bellied Marmot - Highway I-90, USA

After Spokane we turned north on highway 395 towards Grand Forks. We were about a half hour away from the Canadian border when Chris spotted some large birds walking along the highway. I scrambled to get my camera ready and took my first photos of Wild Turkeys since I'd been at Point Pelee in 2012.

Wild Turkey - near Orient Wa - 2019 Bird #149

After crossing the border, we were still some distance from Patty's place. Along Highway 3, we spotted a couple of birds along the roadside. One of them was my favourite Okanagan Woodpecker.

Lewis's Woodpecker - Hwy 3 near Grand Forks BC - 2019 Bird #150

Lewis's Woodpecker - Hwy 3 near Grand Forks BC

The last bird along the road was a Western Tanager.

Western Tanager - Hwy 3 near Grand Forks BC

We were happy to have reached our destination, twelve plus hours after we'd left Great Falls. Tomorrow, we'd be heading home. But there was still some good birding to be done, as described in the next post.

May 17 - Grand Forks to Home

After a good sleep and a breakfast we prepared to leave Patty's place and head home. But first we had one more look for birds in the yard. The most noticeable birds were a pair of American Robins. They have nested in the back yard for years according to Patty. I got fairly good shots of both, first the female.

American Robin (F) - Almond Gardens Road, Grand Forks BC

And here's the male with the Kettle River blurred out in the background.

American Robin - Almond Gardens Road, Grand Forks BC

We hit the road and drove for just under two hours before stopping near Bridesville. We heard and briefly saw a Williamson's Sapsucker. I think Chris might have got a photo but I only heard and briefly saw the bird. This photo was taken in 2014 in the Okanagan while on a guided birding tour.

Williamson's Sapsucker (2014) - 2019 Bird #151 heard at Bridesville BC

Still in the same area, the next bird was more easily photographed. I'm quite certain this is a Western Wood-Pewee. I'm welcome to corrections.

Western Wood-Pewee - Bridesville BC - 2019 Bird #152

Here's the Pewee again with a Chipping Sparrow underneath.

Western Wood-Pewee and Chipping Sparrow - Bridesville BC

We drove for another hour, taking a northerly turn at Osoyoos so that we could visit the Vaseux Cliffs near Oliver. After parking, the first creature we saw was not a bird.

Yellow-bellied Marmot - Vaseux Cliffs, Oliver BC

This location is one of the best in BC to see White-throated Swifts. They are numerous here, but tough to photograph as they are always on the move overhead.

This shot shows a group of the Swifts.

White-throated Swift - Vaseux Cliffs, Oliver BC - 2019 Bird #153

And here's a cropped close-up of a single Swift.

White-throated Swift - Vaseux Cliffs, Oliver BC

Most of the deer seen in this area are Mule Deer. These ones are quite young.

Mule Deer- Vaseux Cliffs, Oliver BC

We did observe a Golden Eagle soaring high overhead, too high for a photo. I've substituted this photo taken in 2013 at this location.

Golden Eagle- Vaseux Cliffs, Oliver BC - 2019 Bird #154 (Photo taken in April 2013)

Just across the highway at Vaseux Lake, we observed this Hairy Woodpecker.

Hairy Woodpecker - Vaseux Lake Wildlife Center, Oliver BC

We took White Lake Road back south and I lucky to get some great shots of a Lark Sparrow.

Lark Sparrow - White Lake Road, Oliver BC

Also on White Lake Road we saw a male Bullock's Oriole. Once again I was disappointed with my shot of this colourful bird.

Bullock's Oriole - White Lake Road, Oliver BC

We stopped briefly at Swan Lake Bird Sanctuary near Princeton, a place I've had some luck on previous trips.

The first bird seen was this Willow Flycatcher.

Willow Flycatcher - Swan Lake Bird Sanctuary, Princeton BC - 2019 Bird #155

Our last Western Bluebird of the trip was this female

Western Bluebird (F) - Swan Lake Bird Sanctuary, Princeton BC

As we made our way back to the car, we noticed the sounds of a large number of birds around us. It didn't take long to realize that we'd stumbled upon a large flock of Evening Grosbeaks.

Evening Grosbeak - Swan Lake Bird Sanctuary, Princeton BC - 2019 Bird #156

The birds above and below are males, the more colourful members of this species.

Evening Grosbeak - Swan Lake Bird Sanctuary, Princeton BC

This shot is the best I managed of a female:

Evening Grosbeak (F) - Swan Lake Bird Sanctuary, Princeton BC

We saw a few Western Tanagers on the trip, but i never got a nice focused shot. This one of two males in no exception.

Western Tanager - Swan Lake Bird Sanctuary, Princeton BC

Our last stop was at Manning Park, where we visited the Beaver Pond. A Yellow-rumped Warbler was reasonably cooperative and posed for some photos.

Yellow-rumped Warbler - Beaver Pond, Manning Park, BC

The very last bird seen was a Mountain Chickadee, another shot of a recent lifer for Chris.

Mountain Chickadee - Beaver Pond, Manning Park, BC

From Manning Park we drove home to North Delta for me and Richmond for Chris. Overall it was a fantastic trip. I added 85 species to my 2019 list and 8 species to my Life List.

I don't know if we'll do this trip again, but i'd be willing to revisit some of the locations.

Sailboats and Birds at Point Roberts

This is a short post for yet another visit to the Point.This one is quite different from the last as it starts off with sailboats.

On a windy winter day, it's not unusual to see one or more sailboats coming round the point. It must be very cold, but the sailors seem to enjoy it.

Off to the right of the boat is a Harlequin Duck.

The next shot has more action including some ducks flying around in the foreground. I did not notice them while taking the photo, and had a pleasant surprise when I got home and looked at the photo close up.

Long-tailed Ducks - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA - 2019 Bird #56

These are one of my favourite duck species, perhaps because I see them so rarely and seldom get a good photo. This is a crop of the photo above.

Long-tailed Ducks - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

Much easier to see is the Harlequin Duck. Here's two shots of a multi-coloured male.

Harlequin Duck - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

Harlequin Duck - Lighthouse Marine Park, Point Roberts WA

One more shot of the sailboat and I called it a day.